Bale Gives Tottenham Europa League Soccer Win; Liverpool Loses

By Bob Bensch -
Feb 14, 2013

Gareth Bale scored with two free
kicks to give Tottenham a 2-1 win over Lyon in their Europa
League soccer round of 32 opener. Liverpool lost 2-0 at Zenit St.
Petersburg.

Bale’s second strike came in the third minute of stoppage
time at White Hart Lane in north London last night. The Welsh
winger has scored all six of Spurs’ goals over the past four
games to push his season total to 17.

“I’ve been practicing free kicks on the training ground,”
Bale told ITV. “Both came at good times in the game.”

Liverpool went down to two second-half goals from Zenit in
Russia and defending champion Atletico Madrid also lost 2-0.
Oscar came off the bench to score the only goal with eight
minutes left as Chelsea beat Sparta Prague 1-0, while Newcastle
had a scoreless home draw with Metalist Kharkiv.

The return matches in all 16 two-game series in Europe’s
second-tier club competition will be played Feb. 21.

Bale gave Tottenham the lead in first-half stoppage time
with a swerving free kick from about 35 yards out (32 meters).
Lyon’s Samuel Umtiti fired a shot into the top right corner in
the 55th minute to make it 1-1.

Bale struck again just before the final whistle after being
fouled by Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons, sending his free kick
over the wall and past goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre.

“I see Gareth practice those free kicks quite a lot after
training,” Spurs midfielder Scott Parker told ITV. “That’s
what you deserve when you put the practice in.”

Oscar Night

Oscar had been on the field for just 33 seconds when he
scored to give Chelsea the win in Prague. The Blues are playing
in the Europa League after being eliminated from the elite
Champions League, which they won last season.

“This is the competition we have to play now,” Chelsea
manager Rafael Benitez said on the club’s website. “The players
have to realize it’s another opportunity to win a trophy.”

Goals from Hulk and Sergei Semak three minutes apart in the
second half gave 2008 UEFA Cup champion Zenit the home win over
Liverpool, while scores from Gokdeniz Karadeniz and Pablo Orbaiz
lifted Rubin Kazan past Atletico Madrid in Spain.

Libor Kozak’s second goal of the game in stoppage time gave
Lazio a 3-3 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach, Basel beat Dnipro
2-0, and a last-minute goal from Glynor Plet gave Genk a 1-1 tie
at Stuttgart.